Aberdeen team guts old Louisiana huts for 'Cabin Wars' reality show

Mike Re could be standing in a mold-ridden, centuries-old home or an newly renovated, upscale loft that still carries the smell of citrus from a recent showing. As long as he has a toolbelt around his waist, Re is in his element.

Re is an Aberdeen handyman with a penchant for house flipping and a background in the computer software industry. A 34-year resident of Philadelphia, Re was a corporate suit for about 10 years, though he never felt he was long for the lifestyle.

"I've always had a little bit more of like a hyper personality," Re told the Argus Leader. "Sitting behind a computer screen for eight hours a day was not necessarily the best thing for me."

Re is now three years into his current career. After starting his own company, Building Bros, and finding success in a field where he's more comfortable, Re's big break is on the horizon. The Aberdeen man was selected to compete in "Cabin Wars: Flip It To Win It," a reality home renovation show set in Robert, Louisiana.

Re and other contestants will have 30 days to overhaul outdated cabins with a $20,000 budget. The team with the best renovation work will win a cash prize of $40,000.

The show is being produced by Covington, Louisiana-based real estate development firm Servio Capital. According to BRProud, a Baton Rouge news outlet, the renovations are taking place at Adventures RV Resort, a campground and RV park purchased by the firm Nov. 30.

Team of Aberdeen pro and hobbyist renovators to help Re win $40,000

Re is considered one of the show's official contestants, but he won't be the only South Dakotan to take part in the competition. Chris Galvin, an Aberdeen general contractor and owner of Galvin Construction, will be lending a hand to Re throughout the contest.

Brady Lesnar, a hobbyist carpenter and a fifth grade teacher at Roncalli Elementary School in the Aberdeen Catholic School System, also traveled to Louisiana support Re on the show.

The Aberdeen handyman is getting a little help from his family as well. Jackie Ulmer, Re's mother-in-law, is serving as the team's interior designer.

Re said the two other teams he's competing against are led by realtors. He believes his hands-on leadership style could give him the edge needed to win the 40 green stacks.

"I think I have a competitive advantage," Re said. "Chris and I are expecting to be in a little bit of a pinch and need reinforcements at some point. Our plan is to have Brady just be another set of hands and give him some of like some fine carpentry jobs. Like, 'OK, Brady, build some cabinets.'"

Winter storm nearly stopped the Aberdeen team from making it to 'Cabin Wars' film site

As the only South Dakotan competing on "Cabin Wars," Re was the only contestant who had to drive to make the start of filming. The other two teams are based in Louisiana.

But Re and Galvin almost didn't make it. They left Jan. 18 for Louisiana, during the start of a winter storm that pummeled South Dakota and other parts of the nation that afternoon.

He didn't mince his words about the 24-hour trip. With highways south of Sioux Falls covered in snow and ice, Re said the drive down to Louisiana was an "absolute nightmare."

"At some points of the trip, I was only driving 30 mph because you couldn't see. Then, I started having mechanical issues with my van," Re said. "It was just white-knuckle driving. Very stressful."

Re is currently in the middle of filming, which is expected to end on March 2. It has been "eye-opening," Re said, to see what goes into producing a reality show.

Akin to a survival show, Re and Galvin have had to film themselves with GoPro cameras while working on their cabin. Sometimes, the two capture their planning sessions and conversations.

But the show's production crew is also trying to document their personal stories and feelings in the moment, either through the standard confessional format or through their personal cameras, Galvin said.

"Before I came down here, I was thinking, 'I'm just coming down to to build this cabin, to renovate it, to do whatever,'" Galvin said. "They want way more of like our personal stories, our emotions, our stress levels, and that I didn't realize."

Even more enlightening to Re, however, is how much he's not used to seeing himself on camera.

"It's nerve-wracking. No one likes the sound of their own voice," Re said.

Galvin, too, was apprehensive about being filmed. He told the Argus Leader he almost said "no" when Re asked him to be his wingman for the show.

But after some thinking, Galvin eventually came to the realization that "Cabin Wars" offered an excuse to escape a South Dakota winter for at least a month.

"We're having a blast. It's a really fun time," Galvin said. "Everybody that we worked with — the production crew, the other contestants — are all just super nice and great. So that's been a relief."

Re and company push through first week of building

As of Wednesday, the Aberdeen team is wrapping up the first seven days of their 30-day cabin flip.

Re said their first two days of renovating consisted of demolition — tearing out unneeded walls and ceiling to make the old abode more spacious.

"It was a very good time to renovate them," Galvin said. "The floor was getting old. The structure is still fine. Everything's good, but it needed help. It's a genius plan by the company that bought it to get these renovated and make a TV show out of it."

However, Galvin spilled the beans on one of their flipping secrets. After gutting the hut, the pair are currently rebuilding the cabin's roof from scratch.

"That's kind of getting us a lot of attention because nobody else took that kind of challenge on," Galvin said.

Galvin said their next steps are to repaint the cabin's exterior and install bigger windows. He added they've been able to find good deals on building materials so far, but inclement weather and the filming process has made the pace of their renovations more touch-and-go.

"We're trying to come down here with the Midwest attitude of, like, we just have to bust our butts and get it done," Galvin said.

"Cabin Wars" will be available on Amazon Prime, YouTube and Vimeo this spring.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Aberdeen handyman filming for Louisiana-based reality competition show